6 Reasons Your Customers Love Lists

Let’s be honest— why did you choose to read this blog? It’s probably because you are a listophile, like me. You love lists— and that’s ok! Almost everyone else does, too! Let’s take a look at some of the reasons your customers love list and how it can create customer engagement with your brand.

Concise, Digestible Information. I grew accustomed to reading Cliff Notes in college. I just want to see the big picture and to know how to answer the questions on the test! Turns out, life after college isn’t much different… In most cases, I don’t want an exhaustive explanation of topics; just let me get my feet wet! Your web content should encourage readers to get their feet wet. Maybe they’ll even decide to take a dip in the pool and ask for more information!

Attention Span Friendly! I remember when I started as a youth pastor, my mentor told me “You know you can’t talk for more than 10 minutes, right?” It turns out, in the world of the world wide web, you only have a fraction of that time. As the word count goes up, comprehension and attention wane. Lists are an easy way to convey major points using fewer words! Keep in mind: If it can’t be read quickly, it probably won’t be read at all.

Easy to Memorize. Lists are easier to memorize— that’s a fact! Use bold letters or italics to draw attention to the main points of the list. Keep in mind, though, Miller’s Law states that the human brain will only actively hold at most 7+/- items. Keep it short!

Memorable. Yeah yeah, I know this seems a lot like #3, but hear me out! In addition to Miller’s Law, there are the laws of “primacy” and “recency” to consider. Do you have a couple of points that you think will really resonate with your audience? Those need to be the bookends to your list! Studies prove that the most thought will be given to the first and/or last item presented.

Inherently Human. Most people tend to think about things in list form. Whether it is written or not, people are naturally drawn to an “ordered” state, and lists are one of the most obvious means to order information or tasks. Not only that, completing a list gives one a sense of accomplishment! Most of us are list makers, and list makers like lists.

Friend of the Internet! Practically EVERYTHING on the internet is a list. Google? Lists. Amazon? Lists. Facebook? Lists. If you want visitors to enjoy their time on your site, you must master the art of listing information!